Monthly Archives: November 2012

It has been quite a while since my last posting of newly acquired minerals, but I’m back with seven new additions to my collection. From Dakota Matrix I ordered several specimens, the first being Abelsonite from the Green River Formation in Uintah County, Utah, USA. This specimen appears as brownish micro crystals on a sub-cm piece of rock, rather unremarkable looking. I had never heard of Abelsonite before; it appears I had previously overlooked what appears to be the only applicable organic species for my Nickel Suite. I had to add Abelsonite to my Nickel Suite, bringing the total number of Nickel species to 26. This also led me to re-check the IMA for all newly added species for 2011-2012 that may be applicable to my collecting criteria. Eight more species have been added to my overall list, bringing the total to 591 applicable species.

The Scrutinyite, another welcome lead oxide, is from the Blanchard Mine, Socorro County, New Mexico, USA. It appears as dark needles of micro crystals on several ~5mm shards of Quartz. This rare species is so named as it is apparently very difficult to distinguish it from Plattnerite, requiring much “scrutiny.”

Next from Dakota Matrix is the Mikasaite from Ikushunbetsu, Mikasa City, Hokkaido, Japan. This specimen is the type locality and it appears as dull yellowish pseudo-aggregated flaky material sealed in a gel capsule. Apparently Mikasaite is hygroscopic, so even though I abhor the appearance of gel capsules in my collection I will have to keep this specimen sealed up and not risk humidity damage.

The Wattersite and Mercury both inhabit the same specimen, and as such I have given this specimen two catalogue numbers. I suppose it might be a little unorthodox for a specimen to be numbered twice, but I couldn’t bring myself to favour one applicable species over the other for the sake of cataloguing. The Wattersite appears as a single black prismatic crystal, about 1 mm long or so. The Mercury appear as silvery blebs all along the Quartz(?) matrix, as well as anointing the surface of the Wattersite crystal. The specimen is from the Clear Creek Mine, San Benito County, California, USA.

Hg7B2/3.01 WattersiteHg.01 MercuryPhoto by Dakota Matrix

Hg.01 MercuryPhoto by Dakota Matrix

Hg7B2/3.01 WattersitePhoto by Dakota Matrix

The last two specimens, Witherite and Hawleyite, I purchased from Dale Minerals International. I was glad to find a modest specimen of Witherite, from the famous Cave In Rock District of Hardin County, Illinois, USA. Most examples of these specimens I have seen advertised for sale tend to be on the larger size, as miniatures or cabinet pieces, commanding a price of several hundreds of dollars. This smaller sized example suited not only my budget, but also my preference for thumbnail sized specimens for the ease of protection and label containment. The Hawleyite is from Crestmore Quarries, Riverside County, California, USA, and appears as a greenish yellow crust on a small piece of rock. Not a pretty specimen, but its inclusion into my collection now completes the applicable sulphides for my Cadmium Suite.

Ba5.1/2.01 WitheritePhoto by Dale Minerals International

Cd2.2/2.01 HawleyitePhoto by Dale Minerals International

On a side note, Richard Dale of Dale Minerals International is going out of business. Since the end of September 2012 Dale has been discounting all of his on-line stock with intent to shut down his website sometime in the following December. There’s still some good deals left to be had – we’ll miss you Dale Rocks!